I was standing in the main entry of the train station doing something on my phone when a man approached me.
“Do you speak English?” he asked.
“Sim, I said. After a year in Braga, I was accustomed to responding in Portuguese. Answering sim (or “yes”) is a knee-jerk reaction for me even if I do not fully understand.
He pointed to the electronic board that displayed the trains.
“Are those departures?” He asked pointing to the board.
My brain having yet to catch-up with the fact that this man was speaking in my native tongue, I hesitated for a moment. I must have also looked confused because the man quickly added with hand gestures,
“Going away?”
“Sim,” I answered, the Portuguese words again getting to the front of my mouth.
The man thanked me and rushed off to the tracks, leaving me shaking my head and laughing!
Roger's Rhapsody 